JAVMANewsSubsection

Former AVMA VP Brown elected to Executive Board

Two candidates run for District III seat

Posted on February 27, 2013

By R. Scott Nolen

​

​

​

​

Dr. Gary S. Brown​

Dr. Michael E. Newman​

Dr. Walter C. Robinson ​

​

Former AVMA vice president Dr. Gary S. Brown has been elected to be the next District V AVMA Executive Board representative. As the sole nominee for the seat, Dr. Brown was declared elected by acclamation Feb. 1. He will replace Dr. Janver Krehbiel as the Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, and West Virginia representative this July.

Voting for a new District III representative on the Executive Board commenced March 1.

Drs. Michael E. Newman and Walter C. Robinson are running to succeed Dr. Joseph Kinnarney when his term on the board expires this July. AVMA members in Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee have until April 1 to cast ballots for their district representative. The AVMA is expected to announce the winner April 2.

AVMA Executive Board members are elected to a six-year term.

Dr. Brown is a 1984 graduate of the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine and owner of small animal practices in Princeton, W.Va., and Pearisburg, Va. He was West Virginia’s delegate in the AVMA House of Delegates for two years before his election as AVMA vice president in 2008. As vice president, Dr. Brown was the AVMA liaison to the Student AVMA and student chapters and a voting member of the Executive Board.

In 2009, Dr. Brown won a second term, and the following year, returned to the HOD as West Virginia’s delegate.“I come to the Executive Board with a thorough working knowledge of the AVMA components plus the current issues before the organization,” Dr. Brown said.

“Recent graduate and student issues make up a fairly large portion of AVMA’s agenda, and that is right up my alley. I look forward to effectively supporting membership and leadership as a cohesive team.”

Dr. Newman received his DVM degree from Auburn University in 1980. Six years later, he established a private surgical referral practice in Birmingham—the first in Alabama and one of five in the Southeast at that time. The practice was eventually relocated to Decatur, Ala., and it currently serves some 250 veterinarians in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Georgia.

In addition to holding leadership positions with the Southeastern Veterinary Surgeons Conference and Alabama Academy of Veterinary Practitioners, Dr. Newman was elected president of the Alabama VMA in 2008 and recently completed a six-year-term on the AVMA Council on Research. He currently sits on the board of Jefferson State Community College’s Veterinary Technology Program in Birmingham, Ala.

Dr. Newman believes the AVMA and other stakeholders should foster the profession’s expansion into nontraditional veterinary career fields, most notably, biomedical research. “In order to accomplish this and to alleviate student debt, our education should not be cheapened but broadened to quality people and jobs, job security, and job worth,” he said.

“The success of our profession, the quality of the people comprising the profession, and the benefits our country derives from this relatively small profession remains a best-kept secret,” Dr. Newman added. “It is long past time that effective publicizing strategies were employed to inform the public of our worth and to support our foundation.”

Dr. Robinson graduated from the University of Georgia College of Veterinary Medicine in 1973 and is a diplomate of the American Board of Veterinary Practitioners specializing in companion animals. He owns and operates a small animal practice in Greenville, S.C., and for the past 16 years has represented the Palmetto State in the AVMA House of Delegates.

For nearly four decades, Dr. Robinson has been active in organized veterinary medicine, and he has also participated on several county and state boards and commissions. He was elected president of both the Greenville County VMA and South Carolina Association of Veterinarians and served a six-year stint on the South Carolina Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners, including one year as chair.

Additionally, Dr. Robinson has been a member of the Veterinary Medicine Advisory Committee to the Food and Drug Administration and the Advisory Council of Veterinary Technology for Newberry College in Newberry, S.C. He is a member of the American Association of Veterinary State Boards’ Resolution and Bylaws Committee and has been a South Carolina state constable since 1973.

“The AVMA is going through some very divisive and turbulent times,” Dr. Robinson said. “I am dedicated to sustaining a strong veterinary profession. I believe the only way that can be accomplished is by good, strong representation from all areas of veterinary medicine.

“Having been in the House of Delegates for 16 years, I believe I have the experience to be a very effective Executive Board member for the third district.”

More information on Drs. Newman and Robinson will be posted in the “Governance” section at www.avma.org. Ballots for the District III election must be returned to the AVMA by April 1.